It's called a hot chocolate for a reason
by geekyblackwidow
Summary: Emma reflects on how much her life has changed since she came to Storybrooke


"One hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon." Emma smiled as Granny placed the warm beverage in front of her. SHe dipped her finger into the cream, and licked it clean.

Granny's was quiet for once, everyone spending time with their family seeing as there had been no villains attacking Storybrooke for a while now - 3 months at least. Everyone was making good use of the quiet moments.

She thought about how much her lif has changed in the past few years. She went from being orphan Emma, with no friends, earning money as a bailbonds woman, working on her birthday so she wouldn't have to reflect how alone she was. Then came Henry.

She knew the instant that she opened the door. He looked so much like Neal. She didn't want anything to do with him, anything to remind her of that traumatic experience. But he wormed his way into her life, and into her heart as well.

Then came Mary Margaret - her mother. What had started out as a simple roommate agreement, so that Emma could stay for Henry, turned into an unbreakable friendship. Hell, they even managed to defeat a kidnapper together. They talked about a lot, including _one night stands_, and Mary Margaret helped Emma open up her heart, whilst Emma gave her advice on what to do about the David situatuion.

Then the curse broke. And what was a beautiful friendship turned awkward, as Mary Margaret - or is it Snow? - wanted to be her mother, not her friend, even though all Emma needed at that moment in time, was a friend.

But the trip to the Enchanted Forest started to change her perspective, even if she was nowhere near to calling her mom. Neverland continued to change her outlook, and surprisingly, she found herself a little hurt that her mother wanted another child, because she'd messed up with the first. But then, she realised, that if she ever found someone she cared about enough to have children with, she'd want another child, to experience all that she missed with Henry.

Then, after the year without remembering Storybrooke, Emma found herself at her parent's door, and found that she had missed them, even if she still wasn't ready to call them her parents. And she was getting a sibling.

It was only after she'd watched her mother **_die_** that she realised how much she was losing by pushing her away.

Then there was David. She felt sorry for him the first time they met - he had been in a coma, he was an amnesiac. Then he went back to live with his 'wife' Kathryn, but led Mary Margaret on. Then he said he was leaving his wife, then he remembered her and thats when Emma started to dislike him. He was messing her friend around, for god's sake!

Then the curse broke, but she fell through a portal before she could ever really talk to him, just him. And when she came back, well, there was the small snag of the iminent danger of Cora and Hook.

Then Neverland - he almost died, he would have done if it weren't for Hook and Gold. And she never really knew how much he meant to her untill she looked him in the eyes and didn't see even the _slightest_ flash of recognition.

Neal. Oh god, Neal. She wished and wished that he wasn't Gold's son. And when Henry found out, he hated her, for not telling him the truth about his dad. Neal was angry too, for not knowing, but what did he expect? He let her go to jail for him, she waited in Tallahasse for 2 years, waiting for him, and yet, when he finds out they had a son, he's mad at her for not telling him?

Then there was the small snag of being kinda, maybe, just a little jealous of his new girlfriend, no wait, fiancee. Its perfectly acceptable - right? - to be a bit upset that he cares more for Tamara, he proposed to her. And what did he do for Emma? Let her be his 'fall guy'.

But then, when it turned out that Emma had been right about Tamara being shady, Neal fell through a portal to who knows where. And she told him she loved him, and he said he loved her. But she doesn't think she meant it, he was shot and dying and falling through a portal, and there will always be some part of her that loves him because he was her first love, but she doesn't love him, not in that way, not anymore. He was just the only one she's ever said it to - barring Henry, of course.

Then he was still alive when they got to Neverland, and they had to say their deepest secrets to get him out of the cage. She's just glad Neal was the only one who heard hers - because she loves him, a part of her always will, but she wishes he was dead so that she wouldn't have to deal with all these feelings again.

And when he did actually die, he died in her arms, with her sobbing. Henry didn't remember him, he didn't have his memories back yet, so she had to grieve all alone.

Then there was Walsh. Walsh, whose proposal she was actually considering, until it turned out that he was actually a _flying monkey_ from _**Oz.**_

And then there was Hook - Killian. The charming, lovable, roguish pirate that seemed to steal her heart as if it took no effort. Well, if you ask him, it took him a really long time and a lot of hard work to obtain her affection, but really she was hers since their kiss in Neverland. She just couldn't show it.

Firstly, there was the first time they every met - pulling him out of a pile of dead bodies that he helped slaughter. She held a knife to his throat and tied him to a tree until he confessed who he was - Killian Jones, commonly known by his more colourful moniker, Captain Hook. She blanched when she heard that, because Disney sure got that character wrong.

Then they climbed the beanstalk, and he saw through her as if she was made of glass. She couldn't face the possibility that he would betray her , and that he would break down her walls, so she locked him up there. But he got his revenge, locking them in Rumplestiltskin's cell.

They fought, using swords, at the portal. She tried, but for an amateur, with no experience, she really didn't stand a chance. But, as luck would have it, he pushed her down, right on top of the compass, so, naturally, she hit him on the side of his head and knocked him out.

Then, in Storybrooke, he got hit by a car, and for the first time in ages, she felt the fear of almost losing someone. So she handcuffed him to the hospital bed, and tried to ignore how his flirting with Ruby made her the slightest bit jealous.

Then they kissed in Neverland. It was rough and passionate, as she got so scared at how it made her feel that she passed it off as a one time thing. But no, he wasn't having that, proclaiming his love to her in front of her parents and Neal, and telling her that he would win her heart without any trickery.

After the year without her memories, he came to restore them. He came and he tried to restore them with True Love's Kiss. He actually cared for her that much that he thought it would work.

Then he almost drowned, and she kissed him - the kiss of life - to get him to breath again, even if it meant losing her magic.

Then he followed her through the time portal, so she wouldn't have to face the unkown dangers alone. And when they got back, he proclaimed that he'd traded his ship for a magic bean, to get to her. So, she acted, as she knows she's not good with words. She kissed him.

Then, she avoided him, because she didn't want him to die like Graham and Neal. He pointed out that he's not going anywhere, so the next day, she asks him out.

The date - which he got his freaking hand back for - ended with a kiss, long and passionate, lips moving as one.

Then he starts acting strangely. After she doesn't give up her magic, he kisses her with such force that she wonders why he was so worried.

Then, when he kisses her goodbye before the Spell Of Shattered Sight is cast, it doesn't feel right, it feels like somethings missing.

Then he kisses her chastely, too slowly after he told her where the portal to Arendelle was. He held her arm roughly, grabbed her too strongly, with strength Killian doesn't usually show when touching her.

They get there too late. If it hadn't have been for Belle, Killian would be a lifeless body in the hospital morgue - until he was buried. But Belle stopped her power crazy husband, and got Killian's heart back.

Emma was the one to place it back in his chest, where it belongs. She was mad at him at first, angry that he didn't tell her when this all started, before his heart got taken, but that anger died down after a few days when she realised she was just glad to have the real Killian back.

They've had quite a few more dates since then - breakfast, lunch, dinner, movie nights, cinema outings, walks, and more - simply enjoying each other's company. She got her own appartment, small but cosy, and he more often than not comes over in the evenings and they spend the nights talking, laughing, and watching Netflix.

She wonders what she's done to deserve him.

And then there's her. She's gone from orphan to daughter, from unwanted to loved. She's become a mother, a friend, the Saviour. She's finally got a reason to keep on going.

"Love, you might want to drink that, or its going to go cold. I heard it's better served warm, you know its called a **Hot** Chocolate for a reason." His lilting, rough voice floated across the table, breaking through her thoughts. She smiled at him, a proper smile that reached her eyes. She's forever grateful that he came into her life.


End file.
